Hamas calls for Third Intifada

Hamas has called for a 'third Intifada' against ‘Israel' after the regime committed the 'awful massacre' in the impoverished coastal area.

Damascus-based Hamas' political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal called on Saturday for a new Intifada (uprising) against ‘Israel' in the aftermath of an unprecedented and intensive ‘Israeli' airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

"I call on the Palestinian people to go for a third Intifada," Mashaal told the Qatari al-Jazeera Satellite Channel.

"I call for a military Intifada against the Zionist enemy as well as a peaceful Intifada internally," he said referring to the Palestinian Authority controlling the West Bank.

In Gaza, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya accused ‘Israel' of committing "awful massacres against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip".

Haniya declared his movement would not be overawed. "We are stronger, and more determined, and have more will, and we will hold onto our rights even more than before."

Hamas spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, also said in a statement that the Islamic movement "will not surrender," adding that "the Palestinian people and Hamas movement "would keep their resistance against the Zionist enemy."

On Saturday, ‘Israeli' warplanes killed at least 230 Palestinians in the Gaza strip, leaving 800 others wounded.

Following the attacks, ‘Israel' said that the intensive airstrikes were the first stage of a large-scale military operation against the besieged Gaza strip.

Early Sunday, ‘Israeli' forces carried out fresh air raids on the targets in the Gaza strip, including a mosque and a TV station, leaving many wounded.

The attacks come in the wake of an ‘Israeli'-imposed blockade on the region which was aimed at weakening Hamas government in the coastal area.

The blockade however failed to reduce Hamas popularity among Palestinians in general and Gazans in particular as a recent ‘Israeli' National Security Council assessment urged Tel Aviv to hinder "elections in the Palestinian Authority, even at the cost of a confrontation with the US and the international community" because the upcoming elections in the Palestinian Authority might lead to Hamas victory.